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KTU

Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit

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Baal Cycle

KTU 1.2 I


[…]
You […]
Valiant Baal […]
your dominion […]
On your head, All-Driver […]
Ruler Nahar. [May he break] […]
your head, Athtart [Name of Baal], [your skull]
[…] you will fall […]
The Father of the Bright One (has) two wives...
Yamm sent messengers, Ruler Nahar an embassy.
With great rejoicing they flew heavenwards
their nostrils flaring. Depart, divine assistants, do not stay! Indeed, set your faces⁠
towards the convocation of the Council, towards the divine mountain. At the feet of El you shall fall
you shall honour the convocation of the Council! Standing upright, you shall then speak,
declaring your message. And you shall say to Bull your father El, declare to the convocation of the Council:
Message of Yamm, your master, of your lord, Ruler Nahar:
Give up the god whom you obey, the one whom you obey, Tempest! Give up Baal and his retinue,
the Son of Dagan, whose gold I shall seize! The divine assistants depart; they do not delay. Then they set their faces towards the divine mountain,
towards the convocation of the Council. Now the gods were sitting to eat,⁠
the sons of the Holy One to dine. Baal stood by El. Lo, the gods saw them,
they saw the messengers of Yamm, the embassy of Ruler Nahar.
The gods lowered their heads onto their knees, and onto the thrones of their princeships.
Baal rebuked them: Why, O gods, have you lowered your heads onto your knees,
and onto the thrones of your princeships? I see, gods,
that the tablets of Yamm's messengers, of the embassy of Ruler Nahar, are humiliating (you).
Lift up, O gods, your heads from on your knees,⁠ from the thrones of your princeships,
and I shall answer the messengers of Yamm, the embassy of Ruler Nahar.
The gods raise their heads from on their knees, from the thrones of their princeships.
Afterwards the messengers of Yamm arrive, the embassy of Ruler Nahar. At the feet of El
they do not fall, they do not honour the convocation of the Council. Standing upright, they speak,
[declaring] their message. Like a fire, two fires, they appear; a whetted sword
[is their tongue]. They say to Bull his father El: Message of Yamm, your master,
[of your lord], Ruler Nahar: Give up the god whom you obey, the one whom you obey,
[Tempest]! Give up Baal and his retinue, the Son of Dagan, whose gold I shall seize!
[And] Bull his father El [answers]: Baal is your servant, O Yamm, Baal is your servant,
[O Nahar], the Son of Dagan is your prisoner. He will bring you tribute like the gods,
[…] he will bring you gifts like the sons of the Holy One. Then Prince Baal was enraged.
[He seizes] a knife in his hand, in his right hand a weapon to strike the divine assistants. He lunges
[…] Anat seizes; his left hand Athtart seizes. How [can you strike]
[…] [the embassy] of Ruler Nahar […]
[…] a messenger; between his shoulders is the word of his master, and […]
[…] Then Prince Baal was enraged […]
[…] the messengers of Yamm, the embassy of Ruler [Nahar] […]
[…] I say to Yamm, your master, [your lord], [Ruler]
[Nahar] […] hear the word […]
[…]

Texts in conversation

Compare KTU 1.2 I:20 and Psalm 89:7

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

In the Baal Cycle, El leads a royal court of gods when Sea's messengers come to demand Baal. Psalm 89 adapts that scene to stress that Israel's God has no equal among its members.

Passages

KTU 1.2 I:20

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Yamm sent messengers, Ruler Nahar an embassy. With great rejoicing they flew heavenwards their nostrils flaring. Depart, divine assistants, do not stay! Indeed, set your faces towards the convocation of the Council, towards the divine mountain. At the feet of El you shall fall you shall honour the convocation of the Council! Standing upright, you shall then speak, declaring your message. And you shall say to Bull your father El, declare to the convocation of the Council: Message of Yamm, your master, of your lord, Ruler Nahar: Give up the god whom you obey, the one whom you obey, Tempest! Give up Baal and his retinue, the Son of Dagan, whose gold I shall seize! The divine assistants depart; they do not delay. Then they set their faces towards the divine mountain, towards the convocation of the Council. Now the gods were sitting to eat, the sons of the Holy One to dine. Baal stood by El. Lo, the gods saw them,
1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

Psalm 89:7

Hebrew Bible
2 For I say, “Loyal love is permanently established; in the skies you set up your faithfulness.” 3 The Lord said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one; I have made a promise on oath to David, my servant: 4 ‘I will give you an eternal dynasty and establish your throne throughout future generations.’” (Selah) 5 O Lord, the heavens praise your amazing deeds, as well as your faithfulness in the angelic assembly. 6 For who in the skies can compare to the Lord? Who is like the Lord among the heavenly beings, 7 a God who is honored in the great angelic assembly, and more awesome than all who surround him? 8 O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies! Who is strong like you, O Lord? Your faithfulness surrounds you. 9 You rule over the proud sea. When its waves surge, you calm them.
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

References

“... Although the Psalms largely consist of prayer and praise, they also contain classic type-scenes attested in the Ugaritic texts. One well-known scene in both the Psalms and the Ugaritic texts is the divine council. In KTU 1.2 I ( SAC 111–13), El presides over this meeting of “the Assembly in council,” as it is called, when the messengers of the god Sea arrive and demand that the council surrender the god Baal. El then makes his judg- ment and decides to meet their demands. Th e Psalms contain rather dramatic exam- ples of a divine assembly scene in Psalms 82 and 89 (esp. vv. 5–7; cf. 1 Kgs. 22:19; Isa. 6; Dan. 7; cf. “the seat of the gods” in Ezek. 28:2). ...”
Mark S. Smith, “Canaanite Backgrounds to the Psalms,” in The Oxford Handbook of the Psalms, ed. William P. Brown (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014), 48.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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KTU 1.2 I:20 and Psalm 89:7

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